Honey beer launched at BBC show

A NEW beer brewed with secret ingredients, university expertise and honey from Cardiff is being launched at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham.

Mêl (Welsh for honey) is the creation of Bridgend’s Bang-On Brewery and scientists at Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Bang-On Brewer founder Neil Randle and Professor Les Baillie teamed up to produce the 4% bottled beer using honey from the school’s Pharmabees project, which has placed hives across Cardiff in a quest to find a therapeutic Welsh honey to rival New Zealand’s famous Manuka variety.

Neil said: “Les and I realised we could join forces to make a brew which combines the natural goodness of honey with scientifically identified botanicals.

“Les and his team have used scientific methods to identify which flora and fauna provide the best natural botanicals that can have a positive effect when consumed.

“In addition, 50 varieties of hops have been tested to assess the antibacterial activity against human pathogens.”

Once the secret ingredients were established, Bang-On Brewery’s Craig Jackson came up with a recipe to ensure the brew had the right taste and balance.

“We are not making health claims about the beer.

“It’s simply about producing a great taste,” said Craig.

“But we hope the collaborative project may well evolve into something that could change the culture of how beer is consumed in the longer term.”

The first batch of Bang-On Mêl will be launched at the BBC’s fourday Good Food Show, running from today until Sunday, December 3, at the National Exhibition Centre before going on general sale.